Why the Phenom II X3 720 BE is the best AMD processor ever.

There are multiple reasons why this processor is better than any other. First, I will address the most obvious ones:

Price: Right now, the most expensive AMD CPU is the AM2+ 940 Black Edition. The X3 720 is considerably cheaper however.
Socket: AM3 is AMD's newest socket. It has DDR3 capabilities, and is compatible with older AM2(+) motherboards, as well as the newest AM3's.

As well as this however, the performance of a 720 BE is also much better, after some very easy tweaking.
First of all, both CPU's have a 45nm manufacturing process. They also both feature a 6MB cache. Another great feature is that they both have unlocked multipliers, as well as an FSB speed of 2000Mhz. An advantage of the 720 is that it draws out 30W less, and the stock voltage is slightly lower. Having said that, the max. temperature of a 720 is °C higher than a 940.

So is it about the 940 that make the price a lot higher? Two things:

Higher clock speed.
Quad-Core technology.

The 720 is clocked 200Mhz lower than a 940 (2.8Ghz and 3.00Ghz respectivly (or however you spell it)). However, 200Mhz isn't a huge difference, and the 720 can be overclocked up to those speeds no problem.
But what about the fact that the 720 only has 3 cores? Well, as many of you may know, it doesn't; it has 4. AMD simply made the processor, then disabled on of the cores, and lowered the price. The fourth core can be enabled easily in the BIOS.


There you go. I'm sure some of you will have something to say about that, and please do.

How is not as good? The specs are the same.

Well your certainly crazy, Ill give you that...

OK, you get the first one mostly right.

Now youve just gone off the rails. SOME 720s can be de-castrated into full quad cores, but not every one. If you get lucky, yes, super buy. If not, its just another tri-core.

/facepalm

I suppose your also gonna tell me the Q6600 isnt a quad core...

Not true, the 360's cpu only has 3 core's.

@B-Unit, well all of intel's core 2 quad's are actual quad core's, they are 2 cpu's on the same chip.

AMD stepped up the core cutting on the X3s recently so I wouldn't expect anyone to get one that can be unlocked.

^^+1 for Just plain crazy.

Best processor ever= because it'
s better than the PII 940...?
News for ya: Q9650>PII 940 and the Q9650 is atleast a year old. Lay off on the BS it will help you in life And incase the 940 is better than the Q9650 (because I didn't check, I'm just making a good assumption) Try PII 940 vs i7 920, I think i7 wins....

Learn2Read, AMD doesnt make the Q9650 or the i7 920

Wasn't going to say it...

Counting on getting a stable quad core out of a 720 is like taking your paycheck to the casino. It might work out and end up the same as it would if you put it in a bank account, but you certainly can't count on it.

How does a sample size of 1 allow you to draw this conclusion? I'm not saying his number was accurate necessarily, but seriously.

The fact that you mention Intel processors is funny, but the part where you are condescending then admit that you didn't even check your facts is hilarious.

Haha I'll stick with my I7

check out comparisons between the 720 black edition and multiple intel quads and even i7s. the 720 BE matches in almost all categories and with overclocking even toped the i7 at times. its actually (for some reason) a stronger chip then amd's quad. www.overclockersclub.com take a look at their comparisons and u'll be shocked.

To OP:

Don't come up here and pretend you're the expert when you know so little its embarrassing.

Case in point:

Like B-unit said, not every tri-core CPU can be "unlocked" to gain an extra core. They're branded as "tri-core" for a reason, and most likely because they didn't pass AMD's certification tests for a quad core. If you can get another core unlocked, great! If you can't, just remember that YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO

Because of the misinformation you, the OP, spread, some people actually buy into that crap.



On another hand, the best processor from AMD as of late is the Opteron 64 released back in 2003. It single-handedly propelled AMD from a second-rate chip manufacturer to a significant rival of Intel.

What BIOS are you using. I finally got bold enough to try the 1.4 and it seems fine.

I'm using 1.4 bios. People make it sound a lot harder than it really is. Try my combo and you'll be surprised at how easy it is to unlock and overclock.

i see it now. with the ocz reaper i was only able to get it stable with 800mhz ram settings. with mushkin, 1066 worked fine. have you tried taking it higher and what is your voltage? mine's running at 3.6 ghz daily with voltage around 1.48.

sometimes its stronger then amd's quad because of the 6mb shared L3 cache. the quad shares 6mb across 4 cores and the 720 shares the same 6mb across only 3 cores. thats more cache per core, which in only certain specific apps that are dependent heavily on their cpu cache the 720 can actually come out over the amd quad.
On an interesting related note, have you noticed the games where the 720 scores almost exactly the same as the higher clocked and quad core 940? There are a few with benchies all over the net. Well the higher cache per core of the 720 helps make up for the slower clock speed here as well, yet most of those games arent quad core optimized. This gives the 720 an advantage to match a higher clock cpu.
But there are a always specialized cases where processors differ which gives advantages one way or the other. In my opinion, Amd should really up the cache on their phenom 2 quads, at least their future releases, it will really help.

But with all this takin into account the 940 is a better cpu then the 720. only in a very special few situations does the 720 have any advantage. But there is still no doubt the 940>720 from a performance stand point. Now value is another argument. But really a basis on value is in the eye of the beholder. Its nothing more then an opinion.
If some one was to unlock their 720 to four cores stable then they surely got a very lucky and do have bragging rights. They almost got a phenom 940 for the low low price of a 720. And thats just about it. That in no way can say that the 720 is better then the 940.

Now on a side note...I ordered myself a phenom 720, Asrock am3, and ocz 4g ddr3 like two days ago. I chose the 720 over the 940 not because the 720 was better then the 940 but because the 720 was a better option for me from a cost perspective. I am on a budget and the 720 is a GREAT option in my case, probably the best option. If i can magically unlock 4 cores then even better. But I chose the 720 for what it offers over what i can afford to pay.
So while the 720 may be the best cpu in my case, it absolutely never ever in any way can be better then the 940

Thats what i said, without the numeric values. :
"Well the higher cache per core of the 720 helps make up for the slower clock speed" compaired to the 940
" This gives the 720 an advantage to match a higher clock cpu."
But these are only in certain specialized cases

But check this out! I got my 720 today and the asrock M3A790GXH/128M and enable ACC. Well it booted up all four cores so i went ahead and tried to installed the OS to run prime. Well when it got done I noticed it was only running at 1.25v with all 4 cores and was prime stable. So I thought i would lower the volts to 1.185 and try it and wow perfectly stable, then i wanted to see how it compares to the 940 so i changed the clock to 3Ghz and still stable @ 1.185. Thats crazy insane I think i will start a thread about it, I never seen a 940 run that low volts: here is the pick (i dont know why cpuz says AM2+ cause its am3)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/38437 [...] 0/sizes/l/

[quotemsg=1935715,36,140628]


should be marked as a legend in the computing world and im not being a fanboi / boy what ever spotty kids prefer with no or little femail contact -



To whom were you referring to with this comment? As you started off with:

"Yet another - Ive got a AMD tri core processor fanboi rant.. "

I guess you know yourself better then we do, and you sure dont know anything about any of us.


"im being factual"

fact: my 720be unlocked the 4th core no problem! As well it overclocks to 3.5ghz prime stable with STOCK VOLTS and the STOCK flimsy x3 HS and fan.

That makes MY 720 better then any q6600 you every owned, performance and do we actually need to bring up that i only payed $135 shipped!

Now i do admit without a problem that the 720 isnt the best processor by no means, I know i got lucky, darn lucky. The 720 is arguably the best deal in that price range, arguable. But I know I GOT THE BEST CPU FOR THE MONEY i spent, nothing comes close other than a 720 which unlocks stable like mine, And i doubt many of them will overclock 3.5 on stock volts. I dont agree with the OP but there is a reason for ppl to rave over their 720, Very few people take their time out of their day just to try and take the joy from others who are just happy with something they have. Very few. I am sorry you thought it was necessary but i promise it will not improve your life, not one bit, to destroy peoples joy with YOUR UNHAPPINESS, its sad but i do forgive you

+1, its pretty dumb

especially considering the prices. a Q9550 for $330 was a good enough deal in October 2008.

but the Phenom 2 X3 720 is a good chip, definitely. will it end up in the same league OC'ing wise as the Celeron 300 & the Core i7 920 ?

the 720be is the best cpu ever for budget gamers and enthusiasts, many would find it too little or too much, but at that price, who can argue?

Congrates on the 4th core. I have the 720 BE and unlocked the 4th core first day. I am going to over clock it to 3.2 and wanted to know what settings you changed for the overclock? Also I am using factory hsf, will this cause an issue? Thanks